Connor (C) vs. Jerichi (A)
3 v. 3
No Limit
4 Day DQ
Return = OK
Fallarbor Town & Route 113: A small farming community at the base of Mt. Chimney, covered in a layer of fine ash that falls from the mountain. Battlers begin just outside town among the ashy fields of loamy soil, filled with a variety of berry sprouts. The rather soft soil makes using Ground attacks like Earthquake a little bit less effective, but the firm ground on the paths that divide the plots has no problem transferring the energy. If the battle travels east, the battlers will come across tall grass covered in ash, which can be used for cover. To the west is the town proper, which has a number of small buildings that can be used for hiding as well.

Well here we are boys. The first match of new ASB. Obligatory mention that as we're all new to this, let's not rip into eachother too much. Especially me ;-;. Squad up, boys.

When I was a boy, my father, Deebs, told me the story of how he and his friends heroically ended the Seventeen Year War. Jerichi and Muyotwo transformed the Bulbapedia colonies into the UPnetwork Forums, a society where asbers and non-asbers from all over the world could live and thrive together in peace and harmony. They named the capital of this great land The Misc. Muyotwo accomplished many remarkable things in his life, but sadly his time in this world came to an end. And like the cycle of the seasons, the cycle of Anime Styled Battling began anew.

...

Ash swirls across the soot covered road, drifting down from the ever stubborn Mount Chimney. Though its glory days had long come and passed, the ancient volcano still puffed on. "Time may pass, but Ash is eternally ten," so goes the Kantonian saying. A derelict sign adjacent to the road still reads "Route 113", though the once black paint seems about fade into the background at a moment's notice. It has been...quite some time since this route knew the pain of the ASB circuit. Though the scars may fade, the earth still remembers. And so do its' people.

Those of the tribe of Fallarbor remember tales of battles past, and of the trainers of old. Of Sneasel12 the Snappy, who's battle prowess was matched only by his temper. Of Jerichi the Jocund, the high spirited official. Of Cibbir the Cunt, who's love of Aggron was matched only by his love of alcohol. Some even remember the dark tales of Aposteriori the Abominable, who single handily split the ASB circuit in discord; and Mercutio the Maverick, who's policies as a league official led many a young battler to their doom. The people share these tales to travelers, at banquets, beside the fire. Best from them to remember the past, so as it not repeat it themselves. Yet, what if the past instead came to the present, a haunting and vengeful spectre?

The ash and dust began to swirl with a violent force, as if Tornadus itself had swept up the air. To the residents of Fallarbor this was odd, but not unprecedented. However, what followed after put even the wisest of elders in a state of shock. From the ash and soot an army of human figures formed, with each step gaining more and more substance. With another blast of wind, all but three of these ash people took to the skies, wraiths returning once more to feast upon the sp of the mortal realm. From these remaining three, features slowly formed. Bone became muscle, muscle became skin, and from that skin came outer features. The three stood still for what felt like an eternity to the residents of Fallarbor, until one broke the silence with a hearty laugh.

"Bollocks. Even in death, I can't seem to shake ASB. Well Jeri, what have you got for me this time?"

The spectators gasped. Jeri? As in, the last League Official of ASB? This surely was impossible, the ASB circuit had been dead for ages. The people turned to their wisest elder, Fuk-Agrön Cozmo, but even he was at a loss for words. Hearing more words in the distance, the crowd turned their heads back towards the mysterious figures.

"Well Connor, it seems some crazy fuck has revived ASB. Ripped us from inactivity hell too. Not sure who exactly, but I think they had something to do with 2020. In any case, it seems that the world has forgotten the pleasure that ASB can provide. What say we provide them with a demonstration?"

The awe of the spectators turned to terror. What sort of pleasure could they be referring to? Although Jerichi and Connor were certainly far from being the worst of the ASB bunch, the two had destroyed entire regions for the sake of their "fun". This could spell disaster for their town, let alone the rest of the world! The intensity in the air was almost tangible. Should they do something? Left by themselves, those two could ruin their town. Suddenly, a third voice spoke, different pitches and tones almost comically ruining the moment.

"Come on dUde, let's take it slOw with the fetish stuff. We'll have plenty of time for sheep and EXPLOSIONS later. Besides, it's soooper BM to trash the first arena of new ASBee lmao."

With a snap of their fingers, the third figure had changed their form whilst speaking almost casually, as if pulling out different shirts from a closet. They continued to shuffle through appearances, swapping genders, species, and mon like it was a random button, before finally settling on something they deemed acceptable. After a moment, seemingly having noticed the awkward silence, the third figure looked at the other two, gesturing to them the physical embodiment of a "wat". Condoning them in monotone, Connor responded,

"Cut it out with the weeb shit Crys. Here at the Anime Styled Battling League we allow no funny business. Now, are you going to ref this match, or right sod off?"

With a downtrodden look, the one known as Crys seemed to mumble something along the lines of "if half of upn can why can't I", before responding back proper with,

Two bright flashes of light later, a pair of Pokemon graced the sooty earth of Route 113. One a large creature resembling a moai statue of old, the other a creature of more modern creation. Both seemed to express great vigor despite the sooty conditions of the route. Perhaps both seem to have their spirits raised from home field advantage. It is their home region of Hoenn, after all. It could also be that this is the first proper match of the 2.0 ASB circuit. Only the mons themselves could say. Taking to the east, the Nosepass begins to wobble as he lets loose a blast of rock energy, aiming to knock the well endowed Castform out of the sky. The Energy blasts the soot surrounding it from the air, rocketing toward the lil' cloud faster than one throws a baby. The trajectory seems to line up nicely, and hits Vanderwall right between the sweet spot. The Castform cringes as it falls toward the ground, but seems to shake itself off. Moai twitches his nose in approval, his technique seemingly having rattled Vanderwall out of doing anything! Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Nosepass surrounds himself with a similar energy. Directing the energy with a thought, ten separate stones begin to swirl around him. With a shudder of his form forward, he releases the stones outward in a burst towards the grounded Castform. As all ten of them strike true, Moai smiles, but quickly gets a feeling something is amiss. A foe wouldn't let itself be hit twice in a row like that for free. Scowling, Moai's suspicions are confirmed: The entire body of Castform disappears with a cloud of vapor. With a twist of his body and a ting of his magnetic sense, he turns upward to face his foe, but is greeted by a mess of electric tendrils! Vanderwall had not only prepped a substitute in advance, but had managed to set up a thunder wave chain! Moai tries to move away from them as he can, but is unfortunately not very successful. As the technique finishes, he notes that although he feels fine that moment, something feels off in the grand scheme of things. Given the electric nature of the technique, he concludes that he quite likely suffers from some nasty paralysis.

---

With the exception of the substitute recoil, Castform has managed to avoid damage this round. Energy usage was fine, and is peppy for the next round. He has some air.

Nosepass, while suffering no damage this round, properly wasted some energy. Good to go though. He suffers from paralysis however, and may find him at risk.